Re: `C-b' is backward-char, `left' is left-char - why?

[Andy Moreton <andrewjmoreton@gmail.com>]

On Thu 02 Jun 2011, Eli Zaretskii wrote:

> Well, maybe if you look at the body of right-char, you will see the
> light:
>
>   (if (eq (current-bidi-paragraph-direction) 'left-to-right)
>       (forward-char n)
>     (backward-char n)))
>
> That's all there is to it: it does either forward-char or
> backward-char, depending on the base direction of the current
> paragraph.  And we've already established that forward-char and
> backward-char can move to the left or to the right according to the
> text across which they move.
>
> The paragraph direction determines how the paragraph is displayed: in
> a left-to-right paragraph, lines begin at the left margin of the
> window, while in the right-to-left paragraph they begin at the right
> margin.

What happens if N is large enough to cross into another paragraph with a
different value for current-bidi-paragraph-direction - is the resulting
motion surprising for users ?

Thanks for continuing my remedial education in the ways of bidi text :-)

    AndyM